Sonnet 016 (Nhưng tại sao không chọn lấy con đường) Sonnet 016 (But wherefore do not you a mightier way)

Sonnet 016 (But wherefore do not you a mightier way)

But wherefore do not you a mightier way
Make war upon this bloody tyrant Time?
And fortify yourself in your decay
With means more blessed than my barren rhyme?

Now stand you on the top of happy hours,
And many maiden gardens, yet unset,
With virtuous wish would bear your living flowers,
Much liker than your painted counterfeit:

So should the lines of life that life repair,
Which this Time’s pencil, or my pupil pen,
Neither in inward worth nor outward fair
Can make you live yourself in eyes of men.

To give away yourself keeps yourself still,
And you must live drawn by your own sweet skill.